Monday, February 19, 2018

Golf Crowds in U.S. Aren't Getting Better

During the Genesis Open, where he finished in a tie for ninth at -7, Thomas told the media the fans’ behaviour “got a little out of hand.” “It was pretty wild this first couple days. It was all right for a little bit today, but there at the end it got a little out of hand,” he said. “I guess it’s a part of it now, unfortunately. I wish it wasn’t. I wish people didn’t think it was so amusing to yell and all that stuff while we’re trying to hit shots and play."

Justin Thomas just put the PGA Tour on notice. They need to do a better job of crowd control at their tournaments.

I'm not sure why the Tour is still struggling with this issue. The whole "mashed potatoes" and "get in the hole" thing isn't exactly new and, according to Thomas, is getting worse. This problem isn't going away on its own. The Tour needs to escalate their policies and procedures it seems.

So, solutions then?

It's easy to suggest that there needs to be a formal security structure that facilitates people being removed from the course once they are identified as having caused an "unreasonable" disruption. That's a complex and expensive answer but one that seems necessary at this point. The problem it causes, however, is determining what an "unreasonable" disruption is. Should someone be removed if they shout "mashed potatoes" while the ball is already in flight? What about the forgotten cell phone that chirps during play? Should the credentialed photographer be removed if they're a little early on the shutter button? The last thing the Tour needs right now is to appear to be fan hostile. They'll need to make sure that whatever actions they take are clearly meant to benefit the many at the expense of a few bad apples.

Justin Thomas was very careful with his words but the meaning is clear. The players are tired of disruptive crowds and the Tour needs to do something sooner than later to get things back under reasonable control again.